Justice

January 4, 2013 - Most of the $1.4 billion in fines and penalties that Transocean has agreed to pay for its negligence in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster will be sent to the Gulf Coast region to fund environmental restoration work.

December 17, 2012 - The shocking massacre of 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut last week has led to calls for policy changes to curb gun violence. But in order to confront the problem honestly, we need to remember that the most likely victim of the U.S. violence epidemic is an African American living in poverty in the South.

December 11, 2012 - In addition to hearing challenges to laws banning same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, landmark civil rights legislation that's been increasingly under attack.

December 5, 2012 - U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms died in 2008 without ever disavowing his support for racial segregation, which is why some are protesting a bill to name a post office after him in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C. But there's something apropos about the proposal, as Helms pioneered the use of the postal service to promote his divisive politics.

November 29, 2012 - The government's decision to at least temporarily ban BP from federal contracts is a result of not just the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill, but years of safety problems at the oil giant.

November 26, 2012 - The producer of a lighthearted documentary film about a Houma Indian Christmas tradition hopes it will draw attention to the Louisiana tribe's struggle for federal recognition, which has become especially critical in the aftermath of the BP disaster.

November 21, 2012 - A new report finds that U.S. coal-fired power plants are disproportionately located in low-income communities and communities of color -- and many of the worst plants and power companies from an environmental justice perspective are located in the South.